Sunday, December 18, 2011

Anyone interested in early LA punk rock is familiar with Alice Bag. The strong leader of The Bags and Alice Bag Band, Alice was essential in establishing the punk aesthetic, using the music to give herself a strong voice to convey whatever it was she pleased. This last October we were able to get Alice to do an in-store that included passages from her book and acoustic musical performances.

Alice Bag's new book "Violence Girl", is a memoir containing stories beginning with her childhood, traveling through her years involved with the early LA punk rock movement and into the present. To balance the night Alice would break up each reading with a song. She performed acoustic songs with a second guitarist and an acoustic bass player, playing a song in Spanish from her childhood, the Bags classic "Babylonian Gorgon" and a song from later in her musical career. A fan was able to record "Babylonian Gorgon", which was then posted to Alice Bag's Soundcloud.

She read excerpts from her memoir that were both entertaining and interesting. One portion was a story from childhood about playing inappropriately with barbie dolls. Another reading spoke of her first encounters with the Germs and the Weirdos, seeing these bands play their very first shows. Everyone in attendance hung on every word, hearing history spoken by somebody with an eyewitness account and a guiding hand in it's development.

Afterwards Alice signed posters, copies of her book and even a piece of one of the walls from the Masque, brought in by a fan. With the highest attendance yet, this was a night not to be missed and hopefully an indication of more great in-stores to come.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

In early October we switched gears yet again and invited Scott "Wino" Weinrich to come down to TKO to eat some pizza, drink some soda pop, and play music for the fans of Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Premonition 13 and his solo acoustic work, which was showcased at this intimate concert.

Wino has been doing records with Volcom for the past few years, one of which being 2010's Adrift; Wino's first full length acoustic album. The album is full of earnest songs dealing with love, loss, and frustration delivered with sincerity and conviction. Wino is one of those rare artists able to deliver his music through different mediums without losing any of the intensity or genuineness.

The acoustic format caters well to this singer known for his Doom Metal career. The guitar work teeters back and forth between soulful strumming and lead guitar, with never being over the top or distracting. The vocals suit the music perfectly; the sounds of a modern day outlaw having no regrets for the life he leads and the beliefs he holds.

He played songs from the album such as "Hold On Love", "Green Speed", and "I Don't Care", and closed the set with a cover of Motorhead's "Iron Horse/Born To Lose". He spoke a little bit between songs but mostly let the music do the talking. From the few words he did speak and the songs he played one thing was for certain; Scott "Wino" Weinrich is the real deal, a musician who plays music because in this crazy world it's the only thing that makes sense.